I sent an e-mail to our team and I think I'll add it here and expand on it because what I said to them is what I felt that day after the tourney and I don't want to lose the total feel of the emotions I was experiencing after we played together. So here it goes...
The Grizzlies were so much fun to play with. It was like stepping back in time being on the ice like that. There wasn't one person on the team that I wouldn't go out of my way to defend if something happened, it was that good. ;-)
Steph as always amazed me with her level of play. She was and still is the best goalie I've ever had the fortune to be on the ice with. I always call her the money goalie because you can bet money that when she's in the net, you know she'll be saving your ass from a stupid play on defense. She's 100% team dedicated and if given my choice of who I'd want behind me, I'd always choose her.
Mike Bast...geez what can I say about him? Having him as a coach all those years spoiled me. I finally had someone that knew what they were doing behind the bench and knew how to coach an entire team, not just one or two players. He's like Steph. He's the best there is at what he does. I've set myself up for disappointment when I expect other coaches to be able to do what he does. He's the real deal and that's hard to find. Mike can study a player and knows what makes them tick. He can tell which ones he can scream at or which one he has to coddle a little to get exactly what he needs from them on the ice. He's the only coach I've known that studies the other teams and can find what it takes to play against them. The Grizzlies weren't always the most talented team on the ice, but he took what he had and molded them into a champion. That takes coaching smarts. If he were to start a team again, I'd follow him with no questions asked.
The newbies on the ice that weekend...Gina, Katie, Aubrey, and Denise. All of them could've been Grizzlies back in the day. They had the right attitude and drive. All of them knew what it meant to give their all and play for the team, not just for theirself. Denise was especially a surprise because playing in this tourney was a baptism of fire for her. She'd never played in a real game. All she'd done before were some clinics at Hollydell. I'm hoping she'll join a team in the fall. She has what it takes to be a good player. Guts and determination.
The old school Grizzlies who hadn't played in forever amazed me. All of them stepped on the ice and it was like old times. Some of them may have felt like it had been too long ago, but I saw the same hearts and the same drive that made them the players that they were back in the old days. The talent is still within them. I wonder how well our team would have played in the tourney if we would have had at least a month of Mike's 'skate 'til you die' practices under our belts.
Pam, Kathie, and Wendy had come to a few open hockey slots at Hollydell to get the rust off, but it was weeks before the tourney. They hadn't played in almost seven years. Zizza...hell I think the last time she skated was with the Freeze about five seasons ago. It took balls and guts to come out and play three games in one day and then another the next after not having played competitive hockey in so long. I KNOW that if all of us had been skating together for that imaginary month with Mike, we'd be taking a trophy home. It may have even been the first place trophy. ;-)
Andrea come back last season to play with the Flames, so her legs were still as fast as ever. It was a nice treat to play with her on defense. I hope I get to have her as my defensive partner again in the near future. I don't know how she felt, but I was really comfortable playing D with her. I think we'd make a good pairing on the ice.
Nik, Jo, and Mitch...I'd been lucky enough to have played with these three for the past season so it wasn't like I was on a team that was totally unGrizzlie-like, but the spark on that team was missing. The feeling that everyone was watching your back wasn't there. I miss that. The Grizzlies were more like a family on and off the ice and I think that's what made us winners...besides the great coaching from Mike. We were all friends. We actually liked one another and cared if someone from another team was taking runs at one of us. We had our backs covered.
I know while I watched the games I made some comments about some missed pucks and how slow someone was making it back to the other end sometimes, but DAMN! The people who were slow had every right to be a step behind at times. I know that if it were me in their skates, my already slow ass would've been way behind them. I'm one of those people who if I miss skating for a few weeks I have trouble. The people who hadn't played in ages deserve major kudos for coming out and playing their asses off. Some of the plays they made were amazing. I bet if some of the other players on the other teams had been told that we had people who hadn't ever played or hadn't played in five or seven years, their jaws would have dropped. Kathie, Arlene, Pam, Wendy, and Denise have my utmost admiration and respect for coming out to the tourney. They played better than most of the women on the other teams that have been playing together for the past season and then some.
I feel real sorry for the old Grizzlies who couldn't (or wouldn't) come out and play in the tourney. They missed something truly special.
I guess I'm done being sappy or corny or whatever. Unless you have been lucky enough to have played on a team like ours, maybe you'd know what I'm feeling right now. The South Jersey Grizzlies ROCKED! They STILL rock! And those are the memories that I'll always hold close and never forget. They are the team that really did and can make the saying 'there is no I in team' be a true statement.
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